An Agenda for Social Work Education and Practice

ABSTRACT

The social work profession has always strived to increase its knowledge-base and improve its practice effectiveness. In this endeavor, the Council on Social Work Education has mandated the teaching of theoretical frameworks as a guide to intervention planning andimplementation. Yet, this format has not consistently been utilized in practice, as some research studies have reported. The article addresses this issue, providing a method of integrating theories and intervention strategies into coursework. To illustrate the relationship between theories and the development of practice strategies, a case report is presented, followed by relevant theories and the interventions formulated from the theory-driven assessments. The aim is to reinforce the learning process, while demonstrating to students the utility and effectiveness of identifying and connecting theories to appropriateinterventive choices that will be carried through to the practice arena.